Federal job cuts outages of retirement photos for workers, including black Americans | Real Time Headlines

The federal labor force was suddenly cut under the president Donald Trump The curve ball may be thrown into retirement plans for many Americans, including those from often disadvantaged backgrounds such as Black Americans.

The federal government is often seen as a stable employer with generous benefits, including a defined welfare retirement plan that is rare in the U.S. companies.

But recent cuts, such as widespread phase-out Employees with trial statusNeen’s owner Janine Wiggins said the Alabama-based job tutoring business focused on federal workers.

“Their distrust of federal work is simply because of massive layoffs and all the different executive orders that have already gone out.

The entire impact of the cuts must be determined. However, given the federal workforce demographic, they have the potential to affect certain minorities at a relatively high rate.

according to U.S. Government Accountability OfficeBlack American workers account for 20% of the federal labor force in 2021. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics put Americans in the share of civilian labor force at about 13%. Other groups that represent relatively high levels of the federal workforce include Native Americans and people with disabilities.

One of the current employees is Katrina Ayers, a 36-year-old African-American mother from Mobile, Alabama, who is a National Guard technician.

“What attracted me was certainly job security and health insurance. That was the biggest thing. It was stable,” Ayers said. She has been a federal employee for nine years.

Ayers said she has private retirement savings including Roth IRA in addition to her federal benefits. Still, she said she knew some federal workers were relying solely on government plans.

this Retirement Plan For most federal workers, there are three main plans: Social Security, a 401(k) similar thrift savings plan, and an annuity plan called the Basic Benefits plan. The minimum retirement age for annuity plan is 57 years old for workers born in 1970 or later. For workers who meet certain thresholds, there are some options for postponement or early retirement.

The basic annuity is calculated using years of service and the highest average salary for three consecutive years of service, so even employees who are eligible for the program may receive benefits that are more than expected if they are deferred. Employees who are separated from federal work before qualifying for retirement can receive a one-time retirement donation.

J. Mark Iwry said. He has served before Senior Consultant From 2009 to 2017 to the Minister of Finance.

IWRY said that many federal workers offer a lower level of benefits to many federal workers than some comparable private sector programs that are still operating. However, the federal plan does have the rare benefit of largely adjusting for inflation.

Of course, the impact on retirement savings also depends on how long it takes for workers to find new jobs and whether they need to liquidate some assets during this period.

“You may end up using your retirement savings, and if you don’t have to change jobs, you won’t.”

Some workers with low-income communities or families with lower wealth may also have more support, which puts additional stress on their finances. Copeland said this could be a reason, and in higher incomes, there is some evidence that black workers save less than whites.

“Black or Hispanic wealthier people think they have a greater responsibility to take care of other loved ones than to save their retirement. So how much they save,” Copeland said.

Often, the wealth gap between black and white savers has been widening due to a range of factors, including black families Less contact To the stock market, existing obstacles Black house ownership and Underestimate the house In communities of color. This difference in wealth continues As people age.

It is not yet clear what exactly the federal workers layoffs are. There have been some legal challenges against Elon Musk’s government efficiency ministry, which has been pushing for some layoffs. Technology executive Musk holds Similar ways to reduce costs When he bought the company formerly called Twitter.

The government has also conducted some backtracking, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Rehire some staff from the medical equipment departmentindicating that some eliminated roles may need to be filled again in the near future.

“People let this country run. So you need people to be in place and fire all these federal workers, I just don’t understand the rhyme and the reasons because I just think it’s going to be the domino effect.”

Ayers said she has a backup plan if she needs to move to the private sector full-time but is not ready to give up her career in the federal government.

“I still have to apply for a job because I still believe in career development and I want to stay in the federal department since I invested for many years,” Ayers said.